Come Out Swinging (Reach for the Moon Book 2) by Sam Hall (sight word readers TXT) 📕

hands on all of this,” I said, dragging a hand up one muscular arm. He flexed as I did so, which made me smile.

“So we got her in the ring and the rest is history.”

“Here?” Bridget asked, stepping forward.

She surveyed the whole massive space. The weight racks, the exercise machines, the mirrors, the open area for yoga or cardio classes, the boxing rings. There was a lot to that one word, I guessed. Here, I made my transformation, and here, she would make hers.

“Yep. Once we ring everyone and let them know we’re back, we’ll get you training with me and some of the other ladies. We’ll start slow, work on developing your cardio, your balance, some basics like stance and defence,” I said, the excitement creeping into my voice. This was me, what I did, and I was inviting my family and my pack into it. It felt like the two parts of my life had melded, becoming better, stronger as a result.

And so was I. Despite the drive, despite our hijinks in the back seat, I felt strong, energised, fighting the urge to start bouncing on the balls of my feet. I might have to go for a run or get on a treadmill to burn off a bit of energy before bed tonight. But I could. I scanned my workplace, seeing all the familiar gear, and that same feeling of being home rushed in.

“Come upstairs. I’ve got some rooms up there we can use,” Zack said, fishing out a different set of keys.

“The doss room?” I asked with a frown. Zack kept a room with a queen-sized bed in it for the nights when he worked too late to head home. He crashed in there, and sometimes I slept with him.

“Ah, no. You haven’t seen this part of the building.” I frowned slightly as Zack looked almost shy. “C’mon.”

He opened a door I thought led to a storeroom, the lot of us trailing up the stairs, large windows letting in pools of light into the space. And then we emerged into a massive open plan living area.

“You planned for this.” I breathed the words out, seeing multiple huge couches in the living room with a gigantic flat screen on the wall. The generous galley kitchen would fit several big men around the food prep and cooking stations. Rooms led off from this, and as I walked, faster and faster, my hand going to a door knob, I knew what I was going to see before I opened it.

When I turned to Zack I finally, finally saw that self-assured façade crack. He’d sat on this, made all these decisions, set all of this out like the high-handed bastard he was, but… I hated the bullshit about love languages, but Zack’s was absolutely providing for others. He spent his time scanning us, reading us, anticipating what we needed and pre-empting it all, and this was his crowning achievement. The door creaked open, revealing a beautiful room with white walls, plenty of natural light, and furniture and bedding all in various warm neutrals. It was a blank canvas of sorts, ready to be customised, but I saw immediately what would be painted upon it.

Us.

The bed spanned the whole of the massive room, giving each of us space to lie in comfort. Not two beds pushed together haphazardly, but something custom-made for us.

“Damn, that thing’s orgy sized,” Bridge said, a ghost of her old humour back.

“There’s other rooms over here,” Zack said hurriedly, directing her across the hallway to other guest rooms or just ones for people to have their own space. Each one had its own en suite. “Just pick any one you want…”

“Are they soundproofed?” she asked.

“Ah…oh! Yeah, the walls are all brick and pretty thick. You shouldn’t…” I watched Zack stumble over his words gleefully.

“Maybe I’ll take the one farthest down the hall,” she said, and for a moment, a small smile graced her lips.

“Whatever you feel comfortable with,” I said, the words coming out in a tumble. “We need to do some shopping, get you some more stuff.”

“There’s some clothes in the wardrobes,” Zack said sheepishly. “I wanted to get everything. But they might not be your preference,” he said to Bridget. “Just see what suits, and I’ll move the rest.”

“I want one,” she replied definitely, but the rest of us just stared quizzically. Her eyes flicked to me, mischief a tiny spark within them. “Wherever you got this one from, I want one too. A great big lunk of sweetness and protectiveness?” She nodded. “I want one.”

“Um…” I said, not sure what to say, but Zack just grinned.

“I’ll put the word around to the fellas when we open the gym back up. We can start taking nominations, pre-screen them for you.”

Her expression faltered slightly, but then she nodded.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

I watched my cousin disappear into the room, the sounds making it clear she was looking through the wardrobes. The other guys were all filing into the big bedroom, a whoop from Declan making it evident he’d flopped onto the bed. But my eyes, they went to Zack.

“I love you.” The words just spilled out in response to the rising torrent inside me, but I could see they were the right ones. It was easy to forget to say them to Zack. He anticipated others’ needs so much, you could overlook his without meaning to. “Not because of this. Well, yeah, because of this, but not just that. You…you’ve been planning for us, for the pack, for me.”

“I fucking hoped against hope.” My eyes widened as his voice went to a ragged growl. “I hoped so much. Building this… It was a love letter to the future, to the future I hoped we’d have.” He grabbed my hand and gripped it hard. “I didn’t know if you’d choose me, but I wanted you to. Fuck, I wanted you to. But even if you didn’t, I would have rented this out to you and your pack.” His